Well this is a huge embarrassment. I made this wonderful cake for my wonderful mother’s birthday and I forgot to post it.

And now that summer is over, you may be all sad when you see the beautiful berries piled on top of the cake. But, don’t worry! This cake will be equally tasty minus the berries, add some other kind of fruit on top of the whipped cream, no fruit and just whipped cream, different flavored whipped cream (think vanilla, amaretto…), chocolate frosting or caramel on top…are you starting to understand the wonderfulness of this cake yet?

Birthday Momma and Pappy

OK, so back in August, my mom had a birthday. My mom likes berries, tortes, pies, coffee, things like that. Last year I made her this espresso chiffon cake with fudge frosting. Out of this world. This year I went with almond and David Lebovitz. Does FTW apply here?

So like I said, top this cake with anything really. It can even be sliced into two layers if you want to get fancy. Really the cake is the star. It’s got a rich but not overpowering almond flavor and an incredibly moist (sorry, sorry!!) crumb. Honestly, it’d probably be good all on it’s own. Just hop on past the jump and check out the recipe!

Almond Cake with Raspberry Lemon Whipped Cream
from David Lebovitz with my “fancy” topping

You Need

For the Cake

1 1/3 cups sugar
8 ounces almond paste
3/4, plus 1/4 cup flour
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 large eggs, at room temperature

For the whipped cream

1 cup Lemon Raspberry Cream
1 cup very cold heavy cream
1 teaspoon amaretto (or other flavoring)

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF . Grease a 9- or 10-inch  cake or spring form pan with butter, dust it with flour, and tap out any excess. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.

2. In a food processor or blender, grind the sugar, almond paste, and 1/4 cup of flour until the almond paste is finely ground and the mixture resembles sand. Transfer to a large bowl. (Or, if your food processor is big enough, leave it in there for step 4.)

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Add the cubes of butter and the vanilla and almond extracts to the almond paste mixture, then mix with an electric mixer  until the batter is very smooth and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing a bit before the next addition. It’s always a good idea to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure the eggs get fully incorporated. (After you add all the eggs, the mixture may look curdled. Don’t worry; it’ll come back together after the next step.)

6. Add half the flour mixture and mix for a few seconds, then add the rest, mixing until the drying ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix.

7. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake the cake for 65 minutes, or until the top is deep brown and feels set when you press in the center.

8. Remove the cake from the oven and run a sharp or serrated knife around the perimeter, loosing the cake from the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool completely in the pan.

9. Once cool, tap the cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper, and set on a cake plate until ready to serve.

10. To make the whipped cream, simply put the raspberry lemon cream, the heavy cream, and the amaretto in a bowl and, with an electric mixer, beat it, starting slowly, and picking up speed to medium until you get a nice whipped cream. Spread it on the cake and top with fresh berries!